By Nanette Wiser
For many of us, getting back to the gym or a sport is part of our new year resolutions. In 2024, what’s trending is fitness regimes that not only improve physical strength but also consider emotional and mental health. Yoga, Pilates, and mindful movement practices, for example, blend physical fitness with stress reduction and emotional balance, aligning with holistic principles.
Paradise NEWS turned to Bayfront Health for some healthy exercise tips. They suggest approaching your exercise goals with a plan, ramping up to more intense exercise and giving yourself recovery time to improve your strength, speed, and agility. All exercise creates tiny tears in your muscles, and your body sends reinforcements to those areas. That is how we build strength. Recovery time is vital because it allows your body to rebuild and cement your work into muscle memory.
Take a Recovery Day Recovery doesn’t mean doing nothing. A recovery day means light physical activity. Ideally, you choose something fun that provides a mental break from your routine. Choose a light exercise that is not overly taxing. Do not work the same muscles that you recently exhausted. Pushing the same muscles to exhaustion every day leads to overuse injuries. Do an activity that is different from your normal workout. Your rest day could include an easy run, a Pilates class, paddle boarding, walking, or bicycling with your family.
Get Enough Sleep Not getting enough sleep means missing out on workout gains. Aim to get seven to eight hours of sleep most nights. When you wake up, you should feel refreshed and ready to go. During the day, you shouldn’t feel like you need a nap. If tiredness persists, talk to your doctor. You might have sleep apnea or another sleep disturbance.
Eat A Balanced Diet Focus on protein, then healthy carbs for fiber and vitamins such as sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, blueberries, and other fruits and vegetables. Be sure to stay hydrated and replace water and electrolytes after every workout.
Pace Your Workout Switch up your workout periodically to avoid risking injury and don’t push yourself to work out intensely, building up to your workout goal with a few weeks of lighter activity. Walking every day is good for the mind/body balance. If you push your body too hard doing the same exercises and work repeatedly without recovery days, your body will let you know. Nagging aches and pains show up. If you want to know more about the latest on health, wellness, nutrition, and fitness news, check out Bayfront Health’s informative content portal online as well as their magazine Choose Health. www.bayfronthealth.com/content-hub